Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex (died September 1144) was a prominent figure during the reign of King
Early career
He succeeded his father,
Geoffrey gained Eudo's lands and his father's offices during the shifting tides of fortunes of the two competitors for the English throne after Henry I's death in 1135. He initially supported
He founded a Benedictine priory (later Walden Abbey) at Walden, Essex and constructed a castle there. He also contributed to Hurley Priory in Berkshire, which had been founded by his grandfather Geoffrey de Mandeville I.
After the defeat and capture of Stephen at
When Stephen was released in December of that year, Earl Geoffrey returned to his original allegiance. There has been much scholarly debate over the dating of the charters he received from King Stephen and Empress Matilda. Depending on the order and timing of those documents, either Geoffrey appears to have been playing off one against the other to get what he wanted or his support was courted by the rival claimants to the throne. The king arrested the earl in 1143 and, threatened with execution, Geoffrey surrendered his castles of Pleshey and Saffron Walden as well as custody of the Tower of London to Stephen. In reaction, Earl Geoffrey launched a rebellion.
Outlaw activity and death
In 1143–1144, Earl Geoffrey maintained himself as a rebel and a bandit in the fen-country, using the Isle of Ely and Ramsey Abbey as his headquarters. He was besieged by King Stephen and met his death attacking Burwell Castle in September 1144 in consequence of an arrow wound received in a skirmish.[1] Because he had died excommunicated, his body initially was denied burial at the monastery he had founded, Walden Priory. Wrapped in lead, it was accepted eventually by the Templar community in London for burial within the Temple Church in London. His son Geoffrey III arranged for an effigy to be placed on the floor, where it can still be seen today.
Temple Church was badly damaged by bombing during World War II and its burial vaults were ransacked by looters. Many coffins were smashed and bones thrown on the floor, and the skull of Geoffrey de Mandeville was stolen, placing suspicion for the theft on a private collector.[2]
Significance
His career is interesting for several reasons. The charters he received from King Stephen and Empress Matilda illustrate the ambitions of English barons. The most important concessions are grants of offices and jurisdictions, which had the effect of making Mandeville almost a viceroy with full powers in Essex and Hertfordshire, Middlesex and London, but these were based on offices and jurisdictions his ancestors had held. His career as an outlaw exemplifies the worst excesses of the civil wars of 1140–1147, and it is possible that the deeds of Mandeville inspired the rhetorical description of this period in the Peterborough Chronicle, when "men said openly that Christ and his saints were asleep".[1] He had seized Ramsey Abbey (near Peterborough) in 1143, expelling the monks and using Ramsey as a base for forays into the surrounding region, sacking Cambridge and other smaller settlements.[3][4]
Marriage and offspring
Geoffrey married Rohese de Vere (c. 1110–1167 or after), daughter of Aubrey de Vere II and sister of the first Earl of Oxford. He had four sons:
- Arnulf/Ernulf de Mandeville, illegitimate, supported his father in rebellion and was exiled shortly after the earl's death. He returned to England, probably in the reign of King Henry II, and there witnessed several charters issued by his half-brothers, the 2nd and 3rd earls of Essex.[5]
- Geoffrey III, 2nd earl of Essex (d. 1166) By a fresh grant from Henry II he was created Earl of Essex.
- William II, 3rd Earl of Essex and Count of Aumale (d. 1189)[6]
- Robert (d. before 1189)
Earls of Essex, Earls of Hereford, and Viscounts Hereford | Family tree of the|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Historical fiction
An account of Geoffrey's outlaw actions and the taking of Ramsey Abbey provides for elements of the backstory for two of Ellis Peters' "Brother Cadfael" books, The Potter's Field and The Holy Thief.
In his 1969 novel Knight in Anarchy, George Shipway describes the life of Humphrey de Visdelou as he follows de Mandeville to his doom.
Geoffrey de Mandeville is a character in the 1994 historical fiction novel When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman.
References
- ^ a b Davis 1911.
- ^ "Looters at Work in the Bomb-Damaged Temple Church", The Sphere, Saturday 27 September 1947, pp. 406–407.
- ISBN 0752414364, p75
- ^ "Mandeville, Geoffrey de", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, vol. 36, retrieved 4 August 2021
- ^ J. C. Holt, "1153: The Treaty of Winchester" in The Anarchy of Stephen's Reign (Oxford: 1994), p. 298, n. 24.
- ^ de Pontfarcy 1995, p. 356.
Sources
- C. Warren Hollister, "The Misfortunes of the Mandevilles", History, vol. 58, pp. 18–28, 1973
- de Pontfarcy, Yolande (1995). "Si Marie de France était Marie de Meulan". Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale Année (in French). 38–152.
- R. H. C. Davis, J. O. Prestwich, "The Treason of Geoffrey de Mandeville", The English Historical Review, vol. 103, no. 407, pp. 283–317, 1988; Prestwich, "Geoffrey de Mandeville: A Further Comment", EHR, vol. 103, no. 409, pp. 960–966; Prestwich, Davis, "Last Words on Geoffrey de Mandeville", EHR, vol. 105, no. 416, pp. 670–672, 1990.
- Davis, Henry William Carless (1911). "Mandeville, Geoffrey de". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 560.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- J. H. Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, a Study of the Anarchy (London, 1892)
- George Shipway Knight in Anarchy (Cox & Wyman Ltd., London, 1969)
External links
- "English Anarchy & Geoffrey de Mandeville – Scourge of the Fens" http://www.ecoln.com/mandevil.html